Congress Asset Management Co. Acquires New Position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST)

Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new position in Casella Waste Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CWST) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,295 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CWST. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 1,606.7% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 256 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Casella Waste Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $58,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Casella Waste Systems by 30.2% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 798 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 185 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Casella Waste Systems by 69.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Casella Waste Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. 99.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Casella Waste Systems Price Performance

CWST opened at $115.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a PE ratio of 958.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.88. Casella Waste Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.41 and a 52-week high of $115.12.

Casella Waste Systems (NASDAQ:CWST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The industrial products company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.25. Casella Waste Systems had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 3.04%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Casella Waste Systems, Inc. will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CWST. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Casella Waste Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $127.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Casella Waste Systems in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Casella Waste Systems from $114.00 to $107.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.20.

Casella Waste Systems Profile

Casella Waste Systems, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a vertically integrated solid waste services company in the United States. It offers resource management services primarily in the areas of solid waste collection and disposal, transfer, recycling, and organics services to residential, commercial, municipal, institutional, and industrial customers.